From Driscoll's Springtime for Algore: A Romantic Pilgrimage to Germany’s ‘Eco–Anschluss’:
...what is it about self-styled intellectuals, “liberals,” leftists, “progressives” who loathe America and think that real progress exists in some far off land, preferably with top-down centralized state-run planning? During the first two decades of the 20th century, American men had built the first mechanized airplane and were spreading electricity throughout the nation, the first big radio networks were going up, skyscrapers were rising ever higher, affordable mass-produced automobiles were rolling off assembly lines, and nascent television technology was being created, all via private enterprise. But instead, the intellectuals of the period look to totalitarian nightmare states thousands of miles away such as the Soviet Union and Mussolini’s Italy, and want to cut and paste their ideas into the American firmament.
What is it about them? I believe I know what it is. Some folks think they are smart enough to run the world. Like Deval Patrick who regrets freedom, they want to be Philosopher-Kings. Trouble is, the mere fact of wanting that role is a sign of lack of wisdom. In my view, humility is the sign of wisdom, and hubris a sign of emotional immaturity.
